Day 26: A place called hope

Thursday

Mar 14, 2013 at 12:32 PMMar 14, 2013 at 2:13 PM

The cute bunnies caught my eye first, but it was the tag that sold me. They were made in an impoverished area of Guatemala City called Esperanza, which, when translated to English, means hope. “This has helped them maintain a spirit of HOPE which many in similar circumstance lost long ago,” the tag reads. Hmmm. [...]

simplyfaithful

The cute bunnies caught my eye first, but it was the tag that sold me.

They were made in an impoverished area of Guatemala City called Esperanza, which, when translated to English, means hope. “This has helped them maintain a spirit of HOPE which many in similar circumstance lost long ago,” the tag reads.

Hmmm. Just the naming of their community made a difference. Just deciding to focus on hope, despite despair.

This community of mainly single moms who struggle not to pay the cable bill but to get clean water and to keep their children from being raped or murdered — this community — has decided to work alongside one another to create a better life.

Now, they have a medical clinic, a library and a bakery, a day care and a school, workshops for those experiencing domestic abuse and scholarships for those who need schooling beyond what they can offer. And women like Flori take scraps of recycled fabric and they turn them into tiny celebrations of spring, of new life. Those bunnies and clothes and purses are sold at places like One World Goods in Pittsford, NY — places where dollars make a tangible difference to artisans like Flori. And the cycle of hope and improvement continues.

It took courage and faith to look at that area of Guatemala City, to look at the squatters and the squalor, and to name it hope, Esperanza. Could we take their lead and name the impoverished areas of our souls Esperanza? Could I take the hard things — the ones that look the worst — and nail a sign above them? Label them Hope, too?

To learn more about Esperanza, visit www.upavim.org.

To buy your own bunnies, stop by One World Goods in Pittsford, NY, or buy them online here.

And the cute little basket in the picture? It came from A Second Thought Resale Shop in East Rochester, NY. The proceeds from that thrift store help support people with disabilities in Guatemala.